Skip to main content

Thinking You're Beyond God's Ability to Save?


Woman at the Well - Rome Catacombs

Most Christians are fully aware of the record of Jesus' interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar, recorded in John's gospel, chapter 4. As I was reading this again, only God knows how many times, it occurred to me that Jesus' words to her are some of the most gracious in the Gospels. You will remember that He went to Sychar, Samaria intentionally, vs. 4 says He "needed" to go there. While there, Jesus went and sat by the well. Soon a woman from the city came to draw water. Jesus gracefully interacted with her to the point that He revealed to her things that nobody would have known unless they knew here well, such as a family member or close friend. As the story goes, she realized He must be the Messiah and she went to the city, told the news, and they all came out to see Him, then asked Him to stay in their city for a couple of days, which He did.

A simple lesson:
There were many years of animosity between the Jews and Samaritans. But God is not impartial, and His love extends to all people groups. He must be grieved a lot at our petty differences in these areas. Although today, these petty differences many have made out to be "not so petty," considering the foolish racial strivings that abound. But I digress. There was no racial striving in this experience. Jesus loved this woman as much as He loves all people, and He wanted to make sure she knew this.

Something to Consider:
What struck me during my last reading was the words He said to her in vs. 10. He had asked her for a drink, vs. 7, and this puzzled her considering He was noticeably Jewish and she was a Samaritan--He was male, and she was female. She called Him on it by questioning Him about this in vs. 9, "Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, 'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?' For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans." Jesus did not answer her question in direct response, but instead He answered by showing her God's love. In vs 11, He makes a statement that we would all do well to heed, especially when we hear someone being judgmental toward those whom we believe are worthy of salvation. We need to realize, no one in God's eyes, is beyond His ability to bring the blessedness of salvation.

He states to her, 
"If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

This is very significant. If you continue to read the story, you find a little later that Jesus asks her to go get her husband and ask him to come, (vs. 16). She then responds with "I have no husband," to which Jesus replies, "you are correct for you have had five and the one you have now is not your husband," (vss. 17-18). The point, Jesus knew all about this woman and her sordid marital past, which is precisely why He omnisciently chose to come give her a visit. She needed salvation. Currently, she was living with a man and not formally married by law. It is important to understand that Jesus was not condoning multiple marriages (see Deut. 24:1-4; Matt. 19:3-9), but neither was He condemning her because of her current and past situation. She was now living with a man. She confessed this, which is the first step in recognizing our sinfulness. She knew she was living in sin and knowing the laws of marriage and what constituted fornication (sex outside of marriage), and knowing that Jesus was Jewish, she truthfully stated as much. Jesus commended her for telling the truth.

But even though Jesus knew these things about her, He still extends the offer of eternal life. 

Living water is an expression John uses concerning the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is typical to all true believers. D. A. Carson states, "In John’s Gospel there are passages where Jesus is the living water as he is the bread from heaven (John 6:35), and other passages where he gives the living water to believers. In this chapter, the water is the satisfying eternal life mediated by the Spirit that only Jesus, the Messiah and Savior of the world, can provide."* When Jesus said that if she had asked He would have given her living water, He was telling her that He was the fountain of life. Because she thought He was referring to literal water, He explained to her that whoever drank of the water He referred to would inherit eternal life, (vs.13).

 Conclusion:
I love this story in so many ways. But it really drives home the point that there is no one that is beyond the reach of our God. His desire is that all would come to Him, being sincere and truthful, and upon a sincere confession of faith, He will impart the living water (Holy Spirit) who is the believers guarantee of eternal life, (2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5; Eph. 1:14).

 As believers, let us be rid of the robe of an unforgiving judge and let us dawn the robe of Christ's righteousness, which compels us to love all others, regardless, with the same love with which He has loved and saved us.






 * D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 219.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

25 Reasons to Believe - In Jesus FREE EBOOK

FREE EBOOK click to download - When book comes up click down arrow on Upper Right to save a copy . A while back the Barna Group released a report titled, "Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church." 1  Under reason two, " Teens’ and twenty-somethings’ experience of Christianity is shallow" they write:  "A second reason that young people depart church as young adults is that something is lacking in their experience of church. One-third said “church is boring” (31%). One-quarter of these young adults said that “faith is not relevant to my career or interests” (24%) or that “the Bible is not taught clearly or often enough” (23%). Sadly, one-fifth of these young adults who attended a church as a teenager said that “God seems missing from my experience of church” (20%)."  If one takes a look at the modern church-scape I can see why. The gap between those pastors and teachers that are fired up about Jesus and those that do not preach all of th
4 comments
Read more

Fornication - The Acceptable Sin?

In the Bible there are several sexual sins that are categorized under the term,"Sexual Immorality." Not the least of these is, "Fornication." However fornication has become an outdated, and in many places, the acceptable sin in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. As a matter of fact, many do not even know what the term "fornication" means. Since the advent of the modern Bible translation, many have never heard of it. This article focuses on what the Scripture says about this out-of-control acceptable sin. Fornication is mentioned thirty-six times in the Bible (MT), thirty-two times in the New Testament. In almost all modern translations the word has been substituted with, "sexual immorality" and has come to mean any number of sexual sins. However, sin (missing the mark) is still sin and sin still separates a person from God. So why has this sin become so acceptable even in modern churches???? UPDATE : Here is a testimony of life
5 comments
Read more

The Bride of Christ Has Made Herself Ready!!

The Bible teaches of an upcoming Wedding Day that the Church should be on cloud nine over!! Rev. 19:7-9 states: Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come , and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." The passage above speaks of two distinct events, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Both of these events are reminiscent of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony where the Bride would become betrothed to her Groom and he would go away to build her a home. In the meantime she would wait anxiously for his return with shouts from his wedding party of "The Bridegroom Comes!" When the shouts were he
2 comments
Read more

Understanding Grace…without it no one can be saved!

Years ago as a pastor, I faced an issue concerning the topic of “Grace.” I had noticed some congregants who were taking Grace to the extreme and beginning to teach that since our sins were bought and paid for at the cross—all of them, past, present, and future—there was no need to strive against sin. Thanks to our Lord, this was noticed and the He quickly allowed it to be curbed. This heresy occasionally rears its head in Christian circles and indeed must be stopped before it becomes out-of-control. The good thing is that a proper understanding of Grace can arrest the heresy in its steps. Because this false perception thrives in loose living, many well-meaning Christians go completely to the opposite extreme and throw the Biblical teaching of “Grace” out altogether. That too is heresy. How should we approach it? Grace, as a doctrine, should always be presented in its entirety. By that I mean, a starting definition, followed by why it is important, and concluding with keeping it scri
15 comments
Read more

Guest post: Hind's Feet

Adrian Bateman, 2016          The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like hind’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. — Habakkuk 3:19 For most human beings the primary goal of life, after survival, is the pursuit of happiness. Indeed it’s one of an American’s “unalienable rights”. But what is happiness? The definition of happy is surely situationally derived. For the hungry it would be having enough food; for the homeless, a home. For the average person it might be having more time, more leisure, more friends, more comforts, more things. Ultimately, happiness involves the removal of obstacles and the correction of problems so that we might live a life without struggle. Or, at least, without what we view as onerous or unnecessary struggle. But this is not God’s definition of happiness. No. True peace—biblical peace, that deep inner peace which we cannot explain—is found only in the presence of God. When we are continually aware of the Pr
Post a Comment
Read more